Bulls Notes: Karnisovas, Vonleh, Temple, Donovan
Executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas didn’t make sweeping changes during his first offseason running the Bulls, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports. Thirteen of the 15 players who finished last season on Chicago’s roster are back for training camp.
Karnisovas has a philosophy that emphasizes building through the draft and player development, Johnson adds. He is also holding onto the $25-$30MM in cap space the Bulls project to have for next summer’s talented class of free agents.
“We were pretty happy with the roster that we had,” Karnisovas explained in a session with reporters. “We didn’t have a lot of wiggle room to work with. We added players that are versatile. We added some leadership, experience to the roster we already had and that was the mentality. And also preserving cap room for next summer and using this season to look at our roster and evaluate and see what the long-term goals will be following this season.”
There’s more from Chicago:
- Noah Vonleh was briefly in Denver with Karnisovas last season and could be a threat to earn a roster spot, Johnson states in the same story. Vonleh signed a non-guaranteed deal, and Karnisovas said he is “going to compete in training camp.” That may mean the Bulls are willing to waive a guaranteed contract such as Cristiano Felicio ($7,529,020) or Luke Kornet ($2.25MM).
- Free agent Garrett Temple, who was the team’s only free agent addition with a guaranteed contract, was added for his “versatility, experience, leadership. Those would be my three things on Garrett.” Karnisovas tells Johnson (Twitter link). He also said the organization will “make every effort” to work out an extension with Lauri Markkanen (Twitter link). Markkanen expressed strong interest in a new deal earlier in the week.
- Bulls players have already noticed a different atmosphere with Billy Donovan taking over for Jim Boylen as head coach, according to Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. Zach LaVine, who had numerous run-ins with Boylen during their time together, was among the players who commented on the change. “They’re showing their faces,” LaVine said of the new coaching staff. “I see them every morning. I get here around 8 o’clock and they’re already in the gym. They’re on the court with you. They’re talking to you about not just basketball, but personal life things. What things do you like to run? What don’t you like? They want you to be upfront. They’re willing to change and hear players’ opinions, so that’s something that’s been different than in the past.”
Wolves Notes: Rubio, Beasley, Rosas, Hernangomez
Ricky Rubio didn’t want to go through rebuilding with the Thunder and he doesn’t believe that’s what he’s headed for with the Timberwolves, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. After Phoenix sent him to Oklahoma City in the Chris Paul trade, Rubio asked his agent to find a new destination. The result was a return to Minnesota, the team that drafted him 11 years ago.
The Wolves were just 19-45 last season and were among eight teams not invited to restart the season in Orlando. But Rubio believes the organization has enough quality pieces already in place to make a quick turnaround.
“I don’t feel like we’re in a rebuilding process,” he said. “We’re a couple steps ahead. We’re already making things happen. With [D’Angelo Russell] and [Karl-Anthony Towns] hitting their five years in the league, they still have a lot of room to improve, but I feel like they learned a lot. It’s not like a young corps where they don’t know how this league goes.”
Rubio expressed a willingness to accept a starting or reserve position in Minnesota. He credits the outlook to his time in Utah watching Derrick Favors, who handled both roles without complaining.
“He didn’t say a word,” Rubio said. “He kept working and … at the end of the day we won. That’s what you care about. You have to sacrifice something for the best, for the team. If it’s coming off the bench, would I like it? No. I wouldn’t like it, I will be honest. But I will be willing to do it for the best of the team.”
There’s more from Minnesota:
- Malik Beasley held his first session with reporters today since being arrested in September for drug possession and threats of violence, but he refused to discuss specifics of the case, Hine adds in a separate story. “It’s a legal issue,” he said. “I cannot really comment on that right now, but I appreciate the Timberwolves’ support and I’m 100% focused on the court this year and doing what we have to do.”
- The Wolves have only four players remaining from last season’s opening-night roster, notes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. President of basketball operations Gersson Rosas has remade the team to add more shooting, playmaking and versatility, giving coach Ryan Saunders more options with his rotation. Krawcyznski examines several potential starting lineups that lean on experience, athleticism and ball-handling.
- The new three-year, $21MM contract for Juancho Hernangomez includes a team option for the third year and contains $387,500 in incentives, Krawczynski tweets. The fifth-year power forward will make $6.493MM this season and $7,012,440 in 2021/22. His $7,531,880 salary for 2022/23 becomes fully guaranteed on June 30, 2022.
Thunder Waive Zylan Cheatham
Zylan Cheatham, who was acquired in a four-team trade last week, has been waived by the Thunder, according to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman.
Cheatham was among five players Oklahoma City received in the deal that sent Steven Adams to New Orleans. The Bucks and Nuggets were also involved in the trade.
Because Cheatham was a free agent, there had to be a sign-and-trade to include him in the deal. He will receive his $1.4MM salary for this season, but not the non-guaranteed money he had scheduled for 2021/22 and 2022/23.
The 25-year-old forward signed a two-way contract with the Pelicans prior to the NBA’s restart in Orlando. He appeared in three games, averaging 3.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in about 13 minutes per night.
On Tuesday, OKC waived guard Josh Gray, who was also part of the four-team trade. Mussatto notes that Cheatham and Gray became expendable after the Thunder reached a deal with Frank Jackson and acquired T.J. Leaf.
NBA Reports 48 Positive COVID-19 Tests
The first round of the NBA’s coronavirus testing produced 48 positive results out of 546 tests, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The initial testing phase was November 24-30.
The league expected to encounter some COVID-19 cases as players return to their team’s city and re-enter the NBA’s cohesive health and safety protocol, Charania adds (Twitter link). Positive results were also reported at the same stage leading up to the restart in Orlando, though the positive rate this time (8.8%) is higher.
All players who tested positive will have to be isolated, according to a tweet from the National Basketball Players Association. They can’t be cleared until they meet the rules established by the league and the NBPA under guidance from the CDC.
We know two of those positive tests came from the Warriors who announced Tuesday that they will delay the start of training camp activities for a day because of two cases of COVID-19.
The league distributed a 134-page “Health and Safety Protocol Guide” last week to help teams mitigate the dangers from the virus and prepare for the disruptions that positive tests might cause.
Southeast Notes: Adebayo, Bertans, Rondo, Mane
Heat president Pat Riley said signing Bam Adebayo to an extension was an easy decision, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. At age 23, Adebayo has already become one of the league’s best big men, averaging 15.9 points, 10.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists last season while making his first All-Star appearance.
“One of the most important things a franchise can do is to make sure that your best, youngest, cornerstone players sign on the dotted line,” Riley said. “Getting Bam his extension was a no-brainer for us because we know he will be around for years to come. That’s great for the Heat, great for the fans and great for Bam.”
Adebayo will only receive a full super-max deal, paying him 30% of the salary cap, if he earns MVP honors, tweets John Hollinger of The Athletic. That figure is 28.5% if he is a first-team All-NBA selection and 27.5% if he wins Defensive Player of the Year. If none of those things happen, Adebayo will be paid 25% of the cap. Those figures are confirmed by Chiang, who adds that Adebayo’s new contract doesn’t contain any player or team options (Twitter link).
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Re-signing Davis Bertans gives the Wizards one sure thing on a roster filled with uncertainty, states Ava Wallace of The Washington Post. Bertans developed into one of the NBA’s most dangerous three-point shooters during his first season in Washington and was rewarded with a five-year, $80MM contract. “There’d been talk from (general manager Tommy Sheppard) and the Wizards that they wanted me to stay,” Bertans said. “But until it comes to free agency, you actually get the call that the team wants you, you can’t be sure. I was happy that it wasn’t just some talk from Tommy and the whole team, that they really, really wanted me to come back.”
- Rajon Rondo‘s new contract with the Hawks includes a $750K incentive if he plays at least 33 games and the team reaches the playoffs, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
- Karim Mane, who signed a two-way contract with the Magic on Friday, has similarities in his game to Victor Oladipo and Jrue Holiday, observes Josh Cohen of NBA.com. Mane is relentless on defense, excelling in traps, and is hard for defenders to stay in front of when he drives to the basket.
Atlantic Notes: Howard, Milton, Raptors, Konate
Dwight Howard took a major step toward repairing his reputation last season with the Lakers, and now the Sixers are giving him a chance to move even further in that direction, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. After a brilliant start to his career that included eight consecutive All-Star appearances, Howard devolved into a journeyman who is now on his sixth team in six years.
He became known as a player who was more interested in joking around than winning and had disputes with teammates and coaches along the way. But Howard showed he could still be serious by earning a roster spot after signing a non-guaranteed deal with L.A. and contributing to the team’s title run as a big man off the bench. Philadelphia is counting on a similar performance as he becomes a back-up and mentor to Joel Embiid.
“Showing him some of the things that I learned over the years, the pitfalls, the things that bring you down,” Howard said of his expected relationship with Embiid, “and also that really (elevate) you up. Not just doing that through words, really through my actions.”
- The Sixers have high expectations for Shake Milton, who moved into the starting lineup midway through last season. During a Reddit chat with fans Friday night, new team president Daryl Morey talked about the potential of the second-year guard (Twitter link from Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire). “I think the league hasn’t caught up to how good Shake can be,” Morey said. “It was one of the first things (new head coach Doc Rivers) and I spoke about after I joined — we are excited to see what he can do this year.”
- The signing of Aron Baynes should improve the Raptors’ defensive rebounding, states Blake Murphy of The Athletic. Assessing areas where the team got better and worse during the offseason, Murphy notes that Baynes has the greatest defensive rebounding impact in the league since the 2015/16 season. Alex Len, another free agent addition, grabbed 25.2% of defensive rebounds last year, which would have been the best rate on the Raptors.
- Sagaba Konate, who played for the Raptors‘ G League affiliate last year, has signed with PAOK Thessaloniki of the Greek A1 league for the rest of the season, according to Nicola Lupo of Sportando. Konate began the season with Casademont Zaragoza in Spain.
Sixers Sign Isaiah Joe To Three-Year Deal
The Sixers have signed second-round pick Isaiah Joe, according to the Real GM Transactions Page.
The former Arkansas guard inked a three-year deal with the first two seasons guaranteed for a total of $2.4MM, writes Kevin McPherson of KARK.com. The total value of the deal is nearly $4.2MM if Joe remains on the roster for 2022/23. Philadelphia completed the signing using its mid-level exception.
Joe, 21, was selected with the 49th pick in this year’s draft. He played two seasons at Arkansas, averaging 16.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore.
Philadelphia also completed two-way contracts with Paul Reed and Dakota Mathias, along with the signings of Derrick Walton Jr., Ryan Broekhoff and Justin Anderson.
Wizards Sign Marlon Taylor To Exhibit 10 Deal
The Wizards have signed LSU guard Marlon Taylor to an Exhibit 10 contract, the team announced in a press release. Taylor will be part of Washington’s training camp and will be eligible for a bonus if he is waived and joins the team’s G League affiliate.
Taylor, 23, played two years for the Tigers after transferring out of junior college ball, averaging 5.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game as a senior. He missed the start of last season after having surgery on his left leg.
Washington also confirmed the signings of BYU forward Yoeli Childs and Liberty guard Caleb Homesley to Exhibit 10 deals.
Community Shootaround: NBA Vs. COVID-19
The coronavirus continues to spread throughout the globe, causing the same havoc in the sports world that it does in nearly every other area of life.
The NFL has been forced to postpone games and rearrange its schedule. The Broncos will have to play tomorrow with no active quarterbacks, while the 49ers need to find a temporary home after Santa Clara County banned all contact sports for the next three weeks. College football and basketball also had to scramble after outbreaks.
These aren’t ideal conditions for a new NBA season, but the owners and players understood the risks when they agreed to a December 22 start date. Training camps open Tuesday, with the first exhibition games just 13 days away. Unlike a few months ago, the league won’t have the advantages of a closed campus to minimize COVID-19 dangers. Players will be out among the public, they will travel from city to city and some arenas are making plans to have fans in attendance, although on a limited basis.
To prepare for the challenges ahead, the league distributed a 134-page “Health and Safety Protocol Guide” to all of its teams. It sets regulations that will hopefully limit any disruptions to the upcoming season.
Among the highlights:
- Players who test positive for the virus must quarantine for at least 10 days after the first positive test or onset of symptoms, or they can submit two negative PCR tests 24 hours apart. Players who are cleared must work out alone for two days before rejoining their teammates. A hotline will be set up to report safety and protocol violations, just as it was in Orlando.
- The start of training camp will be limited to individual workouts with a maximum of four players and four staff members at a time. All participants need three negative PCR tests before being cleared and must start quarantining today if they plan to begin Tuesday. Full team practices won’t start until Friday.
- All teams must employ an infectious disease specialist, infection control specialist, rapid testing coordinator, testing officer, testing manager and contact tracing officer, two contact tracers and team protocol enforcement officer. Requirements also include two face mask enforcement officers, a player liaison, facility hygiene officer, arena health and hygiene manager, health education and awareness officer and travel safety officer. No more than 45 people will be permitted in a traveling party.
- No criteria have been set for what would result in the season being suspended. Like the NFL and Major League Baseball, the NBA will make that determination based on the way events unfold.
We want to get your opinion. Under the circumstances, do you believe the NBA will be able to complete its 72-game schedule and its entire 20-team playoffs? Or will the league eventually have to switch to a “bubble” environment to save the season? Please leave your answers in the comments section.
Knicks Notes: Toppin, Randle, Rivers, Quickley
The Knicks are excited about lottery pick Obi Toppin, but there are concerns about his fit alongside Julius Randle, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. Both are natural power forwards, and many scouts tell Berman that Toppin doesn’t have the versatility to play small forward in the NBA.
“I think best case, they don’t play together that often and you share the 48 power-forward minutes,’’ former NBA scout Bryan Oringher said. “You can get away with each of them as a small-ball 5 for a few minutes a game, but I really don’t think either can play the 3. As centers, they are obviously undersized, and your rim protection will be pretty porous.’’
Randle is headed into the final fully guaranteed year of the contract he signed last summer. He would eat up $4MM in cap space if the Knicks cut him loose before the 2021/22 season, so there’s incentive to trade him before then and let Toppin become the starter at power forward.
There’s more from New York:
- The Knicks’ point guard situation may be even more muddled than it was last season, contends Greg Joyce of The New York Post. Elfrid Payton, Frank Ntilikina and Dennis Smith Jr., who shared the job a year ago, are all still with the team, as well as free agent addition Austin Rivers and first-round pick Immanuel Quickley. New York missed out on free agent targets Fred VanVleet and D.J. Augustin.
- Rivers’ new deal will pay him $3.5MM this season, $3.3MM is 2021/22 and $3.15MM in 2022/23, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. The second and third years won’t become guaranteed until seven days after the final day of the moratorium for each season.
- In a lengthy interview, Quickley talks to Steve Serby of The New York Post about his experiences at Kentucky and his hopes for the NBA. “My whole life I wasn’t ranked,” Quickley said. “I had just gotten ranked like my junior and senior year. And then I come into Kentucky, people don’t believe that I’m gonna be good enough to be able to … I’m not the quote unquote usual Kentucky player like John Wall or De’Aaron Fox or something like that. But I still came in and had success. And then I think it’s a lot of people that still doubt me coming into the league, don’t think I can play point guard, don’t think I’m strong enough or things like that, so just always trying to prove the doubters wrong and prove myself right.”